Transient forebrain ischemia-induced neuronal degeneration in fascia dentata transplants.

Fascia dentata tissue blocks from newborn rats were grafted into one-week-old, ibotenic acid-induced lesions of the fascia dentata, or the normal fascia dentata of adult rats. After at least 2 months survival the recipient rats were subjected to 10 min of forebrain ischemia (4-vessel occlusion), and examined 2 or 4 days later for neuronal degeneration in the host hippocampi and the transplants, by silver staining and immunohistochemistry. Transplants survived well in both normal and lesioned host brains, with easily recognizable subfields and layers and presence of normal types of principal and non-principal neurons. As expected, argyrophilic, degenerating neurons were present in the pyramidal cell layer of CAl and CA3c of the non-grafted contralateral host hippocampus and in the contralateral dentate hilus (CA4). In the hilus the degeneration corresponded to the loss of somatostatin-immunoreactive neurons, while parvalbumin-immunoreactive neurons were spared. In the dentate transplants degenerating neurons were observed in the granule cell layer, the hilus and the adjacent CA3 pyramidal cell layer. There was no obvious loss of either somatostatin- or parvalbumin-immunoreactive neurons. The degeneration varied considerably between transplants, from a few to large groups of silver stained neurons, but this difference did not display any obvious relation to grafting into normal or lesioned hosts, the exact location of the grafts or the general organization and distribution of intrinsic or extrinsic host afferents in the grafts. The results demonstrate that both ischemia-susceptible and -resistant types of neurons grafted to normal and lesioned adult rat brains are susceptible to transient forebrain ischemia after transplantation. In spite of an extensive reorganization of transplant nerve connections, the physiologicalbiochemical mechanisms necessary for the induction of ischemic cell death were accordingly present in the transplants.